Wrongful Convictions Report

In our February 12, 2019 report (Abuse of Power – Tasmania style), we exposed a tendency by Tasmania’s legal system to frustrate the process in which Sue Neill-Fraser is seeking leave to appeal her murder conviction.  And how frustrating were the delays that have stretched the process over three years.

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Andrew L. Urban.

With great power comes great responsibility, no? No. Not in Tasmania, it seems, where through the example of the Sue Neill-Fraser case, we see the State’s legal apparatus shown up to be anything but responsible. Police abuse their powers, the DPP dismisses DNA evidence and the leaders of the Government ignore vital new information.

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Andrew L. Urban.

It wasn’t only direct, probative evidence of Sue Neill-Fraser’s guilt that was missing in the case that has convulsed Tasmania and concerned the nation. According to Colin McLaren’s new book, Southern Justice (Hachette), evidence went missing during and after the police investigation

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It was around 11 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, the second day of the cross examination of author Colin McLaren, that Daryl Coates SC, Tasmania’s DPP, made a theatrical gesture with papers in his right hand, almost smacking his junior in the head, angrily accusing McLaren of having made it all up about Meaghan Vass and her affidavit and never having met her. A pack of lies! He threw his words across the bar table. Continue reading →

Andrew L. Urban.

Within two days, a new website, www.savesue.com has propelled interest in a petition calling for a Royal Commission into the case of Sue Neill-Fraser. It has so far attracted over 2,500 signatories. Launched by filmmaker Eve Ash and a dedicated team, the website and the petition mark a further intensification of the campaign for an independent review of the case, coming amidst the launch of two new books and a 6-part TV series**, all examining the case and coming to the same conclusion: the police investigation was woefully inadequate and the conviction is wrong.

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Andrew L. Urban.

At the risk of ‘spoiling’ the hottest yarn on television this year, it can be said that Seven’s new true crime series, Undercurrent (9pm Wednesdays x 6 from January 30, 2019), shows up the most miserable chapter in Tasmania’s crime investigation history, contrasting with a text book case of ‘how to’; it points the finger at the suspects in the decade old cold case of Bob Chappell’s murder. The police and the legal system should rejoice. But they are shitty. (And trigger happy, threatening anyone pursuing this line with legal action. The series is not showing in Tasmania for legal reasons. Even this review is embargoed from the hapless Isle.) Continue reading →

Andrew L. Urban.

Southern Justice (Hachette, Jan 29, 2019, rrp $32.99, ebook $14.99)
by Colin McLaren

Colin McLaren’s cold case book into the 2009 disappearance and suspected murder of Bob Chappell and the 2010 conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser for his murder comes after years of agitation and disquiet about that conviction. It’s an itch that won’t be calmed.

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Andrew L. Urban.

In the wake of the Tasmanian Government’s dismissal today to consider a Royal Commission as urged by Civil Liberties Australia, we respectfully put forward this draft proposal for public discussion to form the basis of such a Royal Commission or an Independent Commission of Inquiry into the murder conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser, to shine a light on matters of public concern surrounding the entirety of the case. We do not share the Tasmanian Government’s ‘full confidence’ in the Tasmanian justice system.

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